1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to accessories for personal safety and for sporting activities, and particularly to a mirror attachment for use with eyeglasses or for attachment to the bill of a visor or cap which provides the wearer with a view of the area to the rear.
2. Description of the Related Art
On various occasions it may prove useful for a person to be able to view objects and movements to his rear without the necessity of turning around backwards. The ability to see to one's rear without wasted effort is useful in various sports, such as cycling and running, as well as for personal safety, e.g., for pedestrians walking along the side of roadways, or for persons in occupations where there is a risk of being assaulted from behind, such as security guards and night watchmen. A number of different devices have been developed for attachment to spectacles or to the brim of a cap which are designed to provide some degree of rear view vision.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,431,147, issued Oct. 10, 1922 to H. A. Borresen, shows a reflector which may be attached to aviator's goggles or to eyeglasses, the reflector being attached to an arm by a ball and socket (or universal) connector, and the arm being attached to the frame of the goggles or eyeglasses by a second ball and socket connector. U.S. Pat. No. 1,504,344, issued Aug. 12, 1924 to H. K. Hennigh, shows a polished metal reflector attached to the cap of a motorcycle driver by wire.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,988, 058, issued Oct. 26, 1976 to Chaney, et al. discloses a rear view mirror for attachment to eyeglasses or a cap by means of a U-shaped support arm having ball and socket joints at both ends of the arm, one for attachment to the mirror, and the other for attachment to the stem of an L-shaped bracket, which, in turn, connects to the frame of the eyeglasses or a cap my means of a pair of prongs which mate with sockets on an elastomeric cushion. U.S. Pat. No. 4,349,246, issued Sep. 14, 1982 to T. S. Binner, shows a rear view mirror attached to a stem by a ball and socket joint, the stem being attached to eyeglasses or a cap by a pair of spring loaded tongues resembling an alligator clip.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,490,012, issued Dec. 25, 1984 to D. M. Magiske, teaches a mirror for attachment to the brim or crown of a hat by means of a mounting base with bifurcated arms secured to the brim by a set screw and a mirror connected to the base by a flexible arm, preferably made from resin insulation filled with solder. U.S. Des. Pat. No. 284,462, issued Jul. 1, 1986, and utility Pat. No. 4,603,944, issued Aug. 5, 1986 to Greenal et. al. show embodiments of a rear view mirror for attachment either to a bicycle crash helmet, or to eyeglasses. The former has a mirror attached to a rod by a ball and socket joint, the rod threading into a clamp against the helmet, the latter having two ball and socket joints and a spring clamp for attachment to eyeglasses.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,798,454, issued Jan. 17, 1989 to K. H. Hyun, teaches a mirror mounted on a rod which telescopes into a channel defined in the ear piece or temple piece of eyeglasses. The rod is spring biased into an extended position and moved by a tab which folds into a recess to lock the rod in a retracted position. U.S. Pat. No. 4,934,806, issued Jun. 19, 1990 to Berke, et al. shows a pair of reflective surfaces joined to a pair of eyeglasses by U-shaped arms, the reflective surfaces being pivotally attached to the arms by a resilient snap fit, and the arms being pivotally attached to the eyeglass frames. The reflective surfaces are viewed through "windows" in the arms.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,974,954, issued Dec. 4, 1990 to G. H. Muller, describes spectacles with rear view vision elements bilaterally which are mounted to arms by a spherical joint, the arms rotating about a horizontal screw. U.S. Pat. No. 5,048,943, issued Sep. 17, 1991 to J. H. Allen, discloses a mirror pivoting around a pin at the end of an arm connected to the temple piece of a pair of eyeglasses by a ball and socket joint. The mirror is rectangular and is stored in a rectangular recess in the temple piece.
U.S. Des. Pat. No. 378,159, issued Feb. 25, 1997 to L. Mulkey, shows a mirror for headgear having an alligator clip attached to a connector by a pivot pin, and a mirror having a short arm mounted to the same connector by a pivot pin. U.K. Patent No. 1,257,117, published Dec. 15, 1971, describes a mirror for physicians which attaches to spectacles including a mirror and three arms connected by two ball and socket joints, the arms being attached to spectacles by a clip.
U.K. Patent No. 2,104,236, published Mar. 2, 1983, shows a mirror attached to an arm, the arm being attached to a clip for attachment to spectacles, the arm having ball and socket joints at both ends. French Patent No. 2,532,070, published Feb. 24, 1984, shows driving mirror spectacles having a support lashed to the temple piece of the spectacles, a "primary axle" extending through the support, a secondary axle hinged to the primary axle, and a mirror.
The majority of such devices rely upon ball and socket joints or upon complicated mechanisms to connect the reflector to the frame of the eyeglasses or to extend the mirror in front of the lens. Consequently they are expensive to manufacture and difficult to adjust. None of the above inventions and patents, taken either singularly or in combination, is seen to describe the instant invention as claimed. Thus a mirror attachment for eyeglasses solving the aforementioned problems is desired.